Fade
by Soot
Summary: Chekov is critically wounded and Sulu is by his side. Chekov/Sulu slash.


Title: Fade

Summary: Chekov is critically wounded and Sulu is by his side. Chekov/Sulu slash.

Disclaimer: I do not own and never will.

Warning: Slash, don't like don't read.

***

Chekov choked back a sob as he laid on the ground with his hands over his wound, hot fresh blood coating his hands. He could hear the shouts and orders from the away team all around him. He didn't feel any pain as he laid on the floor, just a rising panic that something was seriously wrong. To be seriously injured and to feel no pain was a bad thing; that as well as the extreme fatigue that was over powering him.

Despite all the shouts around him from the away team; Chekov felt separated from them. He felt isolated, alone and afraid.

Suddenly he heard a dull thud next to him and a strong hand grip his own tightly.

"Hikaru?" Chekov asked.

"I'm here Pavel". Sulu smiled a reassuring smile at him as he lent over him so Chekov could see him. Much to his relief the smile worked to an extent and Chekov sent a small smile back. Sulu removed Chekov's hands from the wound so he could see it. He nearly gasped at the sight but managed to stop himself for Chekov's sake. Chekov's eyes had never left him while he looked at the wound and the one thing he did not want to do to the young Russian was to scare him more than he already was.

"Hikaru - I do not vant to die". Chekov whispered, his eyes sparkling with unshed tears.

"Hush Pasha". Sulu told him and brushed a hand delicately threw the Russian's curly locks. "I won't let you die". Sulu then removed both of Chekov's hands from the wound again and applied pressure to the wound with his own.

"Promise?" Chekov's eyes pleaded with Sulu.

"I promise". Sulu confirmed before quickly kissing him to seal it.

Sulu looked over to the side of him to see Kirk bellowing orders into his communicator. A lot of what Sulu caught was about beaming up, McCoy and a casualty. Sulu turned back to Chekov secure in the knowledge that Kirk had got the whole 'get help for Chekov fast' covered.

Chekov suddenly understood that Hikaru could not keep his promise to him. Hikaru could not save him. He understood that he was wrong to make the Asian promise something that he could not see out. He knew that he was going to die, and by making Sulu promise to save him meant that when he did died, Sulu would not just be left with a broken heart, but he would also be left with the guilt of not being able to complete his final request.

He will blame himself for his death.

"Hikaru ..." Chekov tried to speak.

"Hush Pasha; save your strength; help will be here soon". Sulu told him.

"Nyet!" Chekov shouted.

"Pavel?" Sulu questioned, a look of extreme worry, curiosity and shock written across his face.

"I vas vrong to make you promise!" Chekov sighed. "You vill not be able to keep it."

"Don't talk nonsense Pavel!" Sulu told him. Chekov knew that Sulu wasn't upset at him though so he didn't take it too personally. "You will live to see another one of McCoy's physicals that you hate so much! Don't you dare give up on me!!!"

"I lowe you Hikaru". Chekov choked back yet another sob.

"Don't talk like that Pavel! You're going to make it; you're strong; you'll pull through!" Sulu said. Chekov could tell he was desperate and it broke his heart to know that Sulu was going to watch him die.

_'Talk to him Hikaru; you must keep talking to him!' _Sulu mentally screamed at himself.

"Remember when I first kissed you?" Sulu asked before smirking, though the expression didn't reach his eyes. "You fainted".

"Da; and then you panicked". Chekov replied, now too tired to match Sulu's smirk with one of his own. Sulu noticed this but continued talking to him.

"The second didn't go much better either".

Kirk tapped Sulu on the shoulder and told him that he would take over applying pressure to the wound. The other two members of the away team were dead and now he was focused on not loosing a third.

Sulu nodded and removed his hands from the wound. His hands were instantly replaced by Kirk's. Sulu took Chekov's hand in one of his own and held it tightly again. He used his fingers on his second hand to search for a pulse in Chekov's neck. Chekov's breathing had started to become shallow and his skin had started to turn a deathly pale.

"He's loosing too much blood". Kirk said threw clenched teeth.

"Why is it taking so long to get him medical help?" Sulu asked trying to keep his sudden wave of anger at bay.

"Transporter issues. Couldn't have picked a worse time to have a maintenance problem".

Sulu kept his mouth shut. He wanted to shout at the young captain, but he knew that it wouldn't save Chekov so it would just be a waste of his breath.

"Hikaru". Chekov rasped.

"I'm here Pavel". Sulu put his hand on the side of Chekov's face and ignored the fact that he had just coated Chekov's cheek with blood. Chekov was about to say something when his eyes flickered closed. Sulu felt a surge of despair. "Pavel; look at me!" Sulu demanded. "Pavel!" Sulu's hand went from Chekov's face back to his neck and found his pulse again.

Chekov looked at him through tired, half open eyes. "Das svidaniya, Hikaru". Chekov uttered those last words before slipping from the conscious world. A single tear glided down Chekov's ashen cheek.

"Pavel?" Sulu asked. "Pavel? Pavel!" Sulu felt the pulse beneath his fingers weaken dramatically before disappearing completely.

Suddenly they began to beam up. Sulu's anger increased. He wanted to know why they couldn't have beamed them up sooner. What had taken them so long?

When they had beamed back aboard the Enterprise, McCoy took one look at Chekov and visibly paled. He shot Kirk a glance before going in to a mad flurry of activity as he tried to save Chekov. Kirk pulled Sulu away from the scene and out of the room. Even Scotty had left.

"I need to be with him." Sulu said as he ripped his arm from Kirk's grasp.

"You'll just get in McCoy's way if you do! McCoy's the best of the best. If he can't save him no one can!" Kirk shot back.

"But..."

"I know about your relationship with ensign Chekov lieutenant; I understand you want to be with him now; but I can not allow you to hinder what needs to be done to help him!" Kirk shouted. Sulu's expression surprised Kirk. He looked like he was going to cry. Kirk had never seen Sulu even close to tears before.

"I understand Captain". Sulu said calmly before leaving. Kirk watched him leave; he couldn't think of anything to say to him. He was worried about Chekov; any good captain would be worried about his crew; but Sulu's worry was a different and more powerful kind than what he was feeling. Saying he understood Sulu's pain would more than likely come across as nothing more than an insult.

Sulu strode into his quarters and collapsed on his bed and threw his arms over his eyes. This couldn't be happening! Chekov's life couldn't be hanging in the balance! No matter how much he wanted to believe that if he got up and went through the bathroom to Chekov's quarters, he would find the young Russian there, he knew that it wasn't possible. Chekov was not there.

All Sulu saw when he closed his eyes was the young Russian's ashen, slack face. He would never forget how that pulse faded beneath his fingers. He needed to have Chekov in his arms at that moment; to feel the young Russian pressed up against him, his hair tickling his chin and neck. Sulu sighed sadly and wrapped his arms around himself instead.

'Please Pavel; please live'.

End.

A/N: I'm currently learning Russian so i'm starting to incorporate some of the words that i've learned into my work. Das svidaniya (i had to spell it in English because i couldn't get the site to accept how it's wrote in Russian) means goodbye. I've seen examples with 'Do' in front of it but my dad used to be quite fluent in it and he insists it's 'Das'.

Oh; and Chekov fainting in Sulu's arms - GREAT MENTAL IMAGE!! (if i do say so myself).


End file.
